A Wedding at Stapleford Park

In the end, it’s not going to matter how many breaths you took, but how many moments took your breath away

– shing xiong

Emma’s words…

How Richard and I met…

It wasn’t really a romantic meeting – although i would love to say that it was! Richard owns a couple of recruitment agencies and at the time, my friend was looking for new job. Rich and I had previously met in a local bar as he walked past a table that I was dining at with clients and knocked off the salt and pepper shaker with his bottom! He agreed to help my friend a new job – provided that she could get him a date with ‘the blonde girl from Restaurant Bar and Grill’. The rest is history!!!

The Proposal

The proposal was insane!!! We had only been together for around 5 months so it came as a complete surprise. After flying me out for a romantic week in the Maldives for his “birthday”, Richard hired a yacht and we sailed around the beautiful Indian Ocean . After a couple of bottles of champagne, he plucked up the courage and popped the question with the most stunning marquise diamond ring – of course I said yes – if you had written the moment, you couldn’t have made it any more perfect. After the proposal we sailed back to our island. As we stopped to watch the sun set, dolphins were jumping in front of our yacht. We finished off the evening with a candlelit dinner on the beach, lots more champagne and rum coconuts!

Venue

Choosing Stapleford Park as the venue was an easy choice for me to make. Richard had taken me there for one of our first dates and I instantly fell in love with the place! I didn’t even look anywhere else! I had always dreamt of a beautiful English white wedding and it made for the most perfect setting to get married in.

Vision for the Wedding

I had always dreamt of having a traditional English wedding, and it had to be all white. I wanted opulence, glamour, sophistication and fun.

The Vibe

My only direction to my wedding planners was that I wanted everything to opulent, white and extravagant…. Hence the thrones at the top table!!!
We chose a black tie theme and requested that the ladies wear gowns or cocktail, we wanted everyone to have the opportunity to really dress up and go to town. As a result the photographs look amazing!!
How the venue smell was also really important to me. We filled the room with Jo Malone pomegranate candles and my flowers contained jasmine and honeysuckle to help make the venue smell delicious!

Best Part of the Day:

Seeing Richard cry when I walked down the aisle!!! We had a little bit of a bet on who would cry first – although secretly I knew it would be him! I was too nervous to cry and concentrating too hard on not setting my dress alight on the floating candles down the aisle!!!!

Also seeing the room!! Our wedding planners made such an amazing job of the whole venue! I was totally in awe of what the had managed to achieve and I can’t thank them enough for the amazing job they did!

It truly was the most magical day I could have ever wished for. From start to finish I adored every last minute. I was so surprised at how nervous I was!! I’m a relatively confident person but at one point I thought I may actually faint with Nerves!! The best part by far was seeing richard cry when I walked down the aisle!!

Surprise Feelings:

So many people had told me to really stand back and take everything in, because the day goes so quickly! And it did!! I was surprised at just how quickly the day went! I was literally on top of the world!

Advice for Brides

Make it yours and your husband-to-be’s day! It’s the one day you can choose to be selfish and get away with it! We chose exactly what we wanted and as a consequence we had the best day! Also take some time to stand back at some point together and take in what is going on around you! Your day goes so very quickly and it’s nice to take some time to really take it all in! After all, it is all about you two!!!

A few more words…

Special thanks go to my amazing makeup artist Sarah. I can’t believe how beautiful you made us all look and feel!!! Divine Day for the sensational photography. You were so seamless and we actually didn’t even notice you were there. Your skills are second to none and we can’t believe how stunning our photographs turned out! Well Pleased Events – without our wonderful wedding planners our day actually wouldn’t have been possible. They took care of every single thing and the end result was indescribable. Finally a special thank you to my Mum.. Without her there I would have probably gone crazy at some point during the whole process!!!!

Divine Day Photography loves an epic wedding! If you are looking for a reportage wedding photographer with a fine art touch in Leicestershire, Kent, Sussex, Surrey or beyond get in touch!

sandravonriekhoff@gmail.com +44 07817972101

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Divine Day Photography creates wedding photography in Kent. Reportage wedding photography in London, Surrey, Kent and beyond. Get in touch if you are looking for a destination wedding photographer. We like packing bags & we love a unique wedding.